Princess Emerald, Daughter of Solaris

The weekend. A time for relaxing from all the stress of hard work during the week. And for Emerald, a small break from school and away from the two bullies who like to pick on her. She wanted to do some more learning, and if she wasn't going to gain more knowledge at school, she'll continue studying at home.

Out in the garden, Emerald stared intensely at a few blocks in front of her, each one varying in different weights. Dusk sat beside her, somewhat bored while idly toying with his inhibitor ring as he practiced the basics with his own magic with the hybrid filly. It felt boring to the teenager to learn basic levitation with blocks, but he didn't want to lose control of his magic, especially if he wound up getting frustrated or upset.

"Ok. I can do this," Emerald mumbled to herself. Taking in a deep breath, she scrunched her face and let out a strained grunt as she lit up her horn. She telekinetically grabbed one of the blocks in her emerald green aura, one of the lightest ones, and made it float up a few inches off the ground. "That's one. Now for another." Emerald wrapped another block in her aura, this one a little bit heavier, lifting it up along with the first with a grunt. "T-Two...Keep...concentrating." She tried for a third block, straining harder as she puffed her cheeks and poured more magic into her horn. She held her breath and let out a strangled groan, barely lifting the third heavier block up an inch. Unable to hold it, she exhaled and dropped her aura, making the blocks she held fall while panting in exhaustion. "Darn it. Only the two lightest ones."

"You managed to get the third one a bit off the ground," Dusk said.

"Well, I'd like to see you try it." The teenage colt blankly stared at the blocks, lit up his horn, and with ease, lifted all the weighted blocks without any effort. Dusk then lazily made them float around Emerald, making the filly pout irritably. "Showoff."

"I already know how to pick up stuff with my magic. That's the first thing your dad taught me, and I picked up easily the first day," Dusk said. He dropped the blocks back down in front of the little princess, letting out a bored sigh. "My magic's supposed to be more developed, but no thanks to mom...I can't control my magic when I feel so emotionally conflicted now." Dusk put the inhibitor back on his horn before his emotions got the better of him. Letting out another sigh, he plopped down on his belly, staring miserably at the practice blocks. "I'll probably never feel any better even if I can get it under control...I'll be stuck wearing a plastic inhibitor ring on my horn for the rest of my life."

Feeling his sadness, Emerald moved closer to the dejected unicorn and nuzzled his neck. "Don't be sad, Dusky," she pleaded. "Maybe things will get better."

"I don't know," Dusk mumbled. "I doubt my life could get better. Everything I grew up in was a lie, I don't know anypony here, and I still feel so lost in this city and your castle. And what's worse: I don't have a cutie mark while everypony my age had theirs when they were only a few years older than you."

"Maybe you have a special talent in magic," Emerald said. Stopping her nuzzling, she approached the magic training blocks and grabbed one with her hooves. "It's really strong, and you accidentally blew up your Dragon Pit game. You could be a wizard."

"Great. Maybe my cutie mark will be a giant explosion of magical energy," Dusk sarcastically said. "That'll be a great talent: hurting everyone with magic, physically or psychologically. Like mother, like son."

Emerald frowned as she dropped the block, turning away from the disgruntled young stallion. "Not if you keep being a big grumpy grump."

Dusk grumbled at the comment, wondering who the bigger grump was when the filly was being just as sour. He was about to argue with her, but was interrupted when he heard several hoofsteps hurriedly sprinting against the stone walkway near the castle.

"Hurry, we're gonna be in for it!" a stallion said.

Dusk glanced at the path, catching a glimpse of a couple stallions who seemed to be around his age racing off somewhere. "What was that?" he asked curiously. "Who were they?"

"I don't know. Let's go see!" Emerald flapped her wings and flew after the stallions.

"H-Hey, wait!" Dusk called out as he chased after her. "Your dad wanted you to keep practicing your levitation!"

Dusk sometimes wondered how Solaris and Trill were able to keep up with a filly this fast. He didn't know how hard it was for parents who had a pegasus foal since the foals he grew up around were all under his mother's equality spell, their energetic bouts of flight much slower than a normal foal's. Thankfully, they didn't round a lot of corners as he could see the sprinting ponies up ahead, only to quickly skid and turn into a bigger field on the other side of the garden area. Emerald came to a stop, landing on the ground and peeked behind a column, causing Dusk to skid and end up tripping, landing hard on his chest with a grunt. He grumbled as he sat back up, ready to give the filly an earful.

"Where in all of Canterlot were you two maggots!?" Dusk flinched as he heard an older stallion shouting around the corner. Nervous, he quietly approached the column Emerald was hiding behind, joining the princess and looked around it. They wound up in what appeared to be a huge training ground, most likely used for the guards for weapons training and the like. Standing at attention were a small group of young stallions close to or a little older than Dusk's age, and an older earth pony stallion, who must have been a war veteran with some battle scars on his face and forelegs. The veteran wore the royal guard gold armor without the helmet while the younger stallions wore nothing, and he was eyeing the two recruits who rushed to get here. "You two sorry sacks of fur and hide better have a good excuse for why you're late, because unlike what your schools teach you, I DO NOT TOLERATE MY SOLDIERS BEING TARDY!!!!!"

The two colts who were being yelled at were both pegasi. One was a light shade of sky blue with a short, windswept mane of white with dark blue streaks and an image of air being sliced for his cutie mark, the other with yellow-gold fur and a stylishly slicked back brown mane, this pegasus's cutie mark a mound of rock filled to the brim with gold. The first stallion seemed a bit nervous, but the other seemed too calm and aloof when they were being scolded at for being late.

"Sir, sorry, sir!" the first stallion said. "We got lost trying to find the training grounds, sir!"

"Lost!?" the drill sergeant questioned. "Do I have to draw a map for all my privates if you two can't even find your way to the latrines!?"

"To be fair, sir, this castle is pretty huge," the second stallion said, though far more casually than his more respectful friend. "I bet you got lost your first time here."

The veteran gave the aloof recruit the stink eye, the stunning silence making the others in line subtly grimace at the tardy soldier in training's lackadaisical response. "...Private Gold Digger, you're already on very thin ice with you and Private Skye Slasher being the last to arrive, and being 'fashionably' late. You respond to me with proper respect, or I'll make sure your mouth gets busy cleaning the latrines with nothing but your very own toothbrush for a month! Do I make myself clear!?"

"Sir, yes, sir," the cocky stallion said with a mock salute, his tardy buddy mentally facehooving while doing his best to stay at attention.

The sergeant sneered at Gold Digger, not in the least bit amused by the young stallion's smug, know-it-all grin. "...Get in line with the others...NOW!" Skye Slasher quickly joined the rest of his troop while Gold Digger nonchalantly trotted over to stand beside him. "This isn't a filly scout camp, maggots! When I say to fall in line, you HUSTLE and not waste my time! Understood!?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the recruits all responded, though Gold Digger remained silent, still bearing that cocky smirk.

"And thanks to your two tardy soldiers, my time's already being wasted!" the drill sergeant exclaimed angrily. "All of you start giving me fifty laps around the perimeter of these grounds, and you can thank Skye and Gold for the privilege of running those laps full gallop! Any of you trot or canter in your stride, everypony starts over from lap one! IS THAT CLEAR!?"

"SIR, YES, SIR!" the recruits exclaimed.

"NOW GET TO RUNNING!" Immediately, the recruits began running, sticking as close to the wall as possible to endure their punishment training. "No wings or magic! If I so much as catch any of your pegasi flapping your wings to get some extra distance, I'll be sure to put heavy weights on your backs to keep you grounded!"

Dusk and Emerald watched the recruits while the veteran guard continued berating them and threatening them to start over if they tripped over each other. Dusk was a bit confused as he was watching military training up close for the first time, already intimidated by the older stallion, and he wasn't being yelled at.

"Why does he put them down like that?" Dusk asked. "That doesn't sound motivating, but they're running anyway."

"Why don't we go ask him?" Emerald asked. Before Dusk could say no, the filly was already running out to the center of the field, avoiding a couple soldiers as they weaved around her, but kept their gallop to avoid restarting their laps. The unicorn teen let out a disgruntled groan, hoping they wouldn't get in trouble. "Hello, Mr. Guard!"

"WHO IN TARTERUS IS-!?" The drill instructor turned to face who was speaking out of turn, only to look down at where the source of the voice came from. Emerald grinned innocently as she looked up at the war veteran. "Oh. Princess. Hello, there." Dusk was surprised to see someone as aggressive and terrifyingly strict as this experienced soldier do a complete one-eighty, being calm and welcoming in the presence of the hybrid princess. "What are you doing out here? And where are your parents?"

"Mommy and daddy are busy with royal stuff," Emerald said, then pointed to Dusk hiding behind the column. "Dusky's watching me until they're done." The stallion looked over to where the teen was spying from. Dusk winced and quickly hid behind the pillar, fearing he was going to get yelled at for watching the veteran soldier training future soldiers of Equestria. "He's a bit shy."

"I can see that," he mumbled to himself.

"Why were you yelling at those stallions?" Emerald asked curiously. "I don't think they did anything wrong."

The soldier chuckled in amusement at the princess's curiosity. "Well, they actually didn't, but they're training to be soldiers," he explained.

"Getting yelled at is training?" the filly questioned.

"It's meant to brace them for any repercussions they'll get if they disobey my orders or act out of line when they're committed to focusing on their training," he said. "Being in the military, you need a strong resolve, proper discipline, respect for your fellow soldiers and commanding officer leading you. We work recruits hard to make them strong, and if one member of the group acts up, then the whole group is going to be punished until it's clear for all of them that being in the royal guard is a very serious duty."

"Ohhhh," Emerald uttered as she sank the knowledge in. "Is that why it's hard to get the other guards to laugh or move when they're guarding some doors?"

The stallion snickered at the filly's hilarious question. "Oh, trust me. Trying to stay that still and not get distracted by everything is harder than it looks," he said. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted some of the recruits getting exhausted and were slowing down. "Am I seeing you slowing down, private!?"

"S-Sir, no, sir!" the panting stallion answered.

"Move your legs, jelly jugs, or I'm counting that as your first lap! Don't think I'm not aware because our princess is here watching you slugs moving at the speed of molasses!" Emerald giggled at the veteran's barking, "motivating" the recruits not to slow down and start over to run even more until their limbs fell off.

"Yeah, slowpokes, keep running!" Emerald yelled out. "And if any of you trip, none of you get any dinner for a week!"

"Oooh, that's a good one," the stallion praised with an impish smirk. "You heard the little lady! Trip or stumble over your own hooves or each other, you aren't getting any dinner from the mess hall for a week!" The small glances the younger stallions gave while running were skeptical until their drill sergeant backed up the princess's order. They kept running, not wanting to be denied food after their first day of basic training. The sergeant looked down at Emerald and ruffled the filly's mane. "If you weren't a princess, you could make a great drill sergeant."

"Really?" the filly asked.

"Maybe. Just don't tell your parents." The sergeant gently nudged the princess back toward Dusk Shine. "Now, you run along back to your caretaker. I got a job to do, and I've got some more words a little filly like you shouldn't be hearing."

"Ok!" Emerald flapped her wings and began making her way back to Dusk, stopping for a brief moment as Skye Slasher and Gold Digger were about to pass under her. "RUN FASTER! I've seen chubby bunnies hop faster!"

Skye Slasher snickered and shook his head without breaking his stride while Gold Digger grumbled at the princess barking orders at him. The sergeant continued his "motivational" shouting, keeping an eye on Emerald until he was sure the young princess was far out of earshot so he didn't say anything too demeaning or bad. The filly landed next to Dusk, who was still hiding, then dragged him back to the garden.

"I thought he was going to yell at you for getting in the way," Dusk mumbled.

"He's nice," Emerald said. "Wasn't that funny? I called them chubby bunnies."

"Yeah. Hilarious," Dusk said with a disgruntled sigh. "I don't understand how getting yelled at is good for military training."

"Because Mr. Guard said it teaches them respect and follow directions so they all work together," Emerald paraphrased.

"...I'm still not going to get it," Dusk mumbled.

The next few days went by in a blur. Thankfully, Emerald didn't try to run back to the practice field to watch the new recruits going through boot camp. Dusk passed a window overlooking the training grounds the day after witnessing the event, and he winced when he heard the sergeant screaming at the top of his lungs, spouting insulting names at the recruits who didn't do what he expected them to, or giving them humiliating nicknames. The one who seemed to be the most troublesome, Gold Digger, Dusk heard him being called "Goldilocks", and he continued badmouthing the older stallion and was given the "privilege" of cleaning the barracks' latrines with his toothbrush, like it was promised the day before. Dusk felt sick to his stomach, unable to imagine crouching down on a dirty floor and be forced to use his own toothbrush to clean every single tile and expected to use it again after that. Thank goodness his mother didn't try to raise an army to overthrow every single pony in Equestria with equality, although he didn't know how well that would go with her "soldiers" being weaker than an actually trained army.

He went through his usual morning routines of waking up early, not much of a morning pony as he feels more tired waking up before the crack of dawn, escorting Emerald to school on his own or with either Solaris or Trill, then going back to while away with some magic training or reading, and picking up Emerald when school was over for the day to watch her until dinner. It was a Friday today, but it was still a slug of a morning for Dusk. Tiredly waking up to his alarm, he smacked the annoyingly ringing bells to silence, then forced himself to sit up in his bed. He didn't care about messing with his mane as he shambled out of bed and waited outside in the hall for Emerald.

The hybrid princess came out of her room, up bright and early with her saddlebags and a bounce in her step. "Morning, Dusky!" Emerald greeted. Dusk just let out a mumbled, half asleep grunt before slowly trekking down the hall. Emerald ran to catch up with him and walked by his side. "Somepony's a bit grumpy this morning."

"I hate mornings," Dusk grumbled, followed by a loud yawn and a quick shake of his head to keep himself awake.

"You'll get used to it," Emerald said.

The two left the castle after the long walk from their bedrooms to the front gates. Emerald skipped merrily beside Dusk, humming a little tune, apparently excited for today. Dusk had no idea what it was, but he knew she was looking forward to the sleepover she was going to have with some of her friends tomorrow since he was going to be chaperoning. He was too tired to care right now, wanting nothing more than to lie back in bed and keep sleeping until noon. They finally reached the school, the teen dropping the princess off, then slumping back off to the castle. After being up for almost twenty minutes, he wasn't going to go back to bed at this rate, so he might as well just stay up. But he needed a bit of a pick-me-up to wake him up a bit more.

Dusk noticed a cafe nearby, where some early morning patrons were either relaxing with their caffeinated beverage inside or taking it to go to start their day off before going to work. He's seen Solaris sipping some coffee in the mornings to wake him up, and he did have a few bits on him from the prince for watching Emerald for them like an allowance. Dusk shrugged and shambled inside, waiting in line behind a few ponies while the scent of freshly blended coffee beans wafted in the air. Just the aroma inside the restaurant was starting to wake him up, and before he knew it, he was up next at the counter.

"Mornin', hon," a middle-aged mare at the other end of the counter greeted. "What can we make for you?"

"Uhh...just a small coffee," Dusk said. "And...maybe a bagel."

"Want some cream or sugar for your coffee, hon?" the mare asked. Dusk didn't know, and the uncertainty showed the employee that this was his first time trying something strong. "Our coffee's got a bit of a kick for some ponies' taste buds, especially for colts around your age. I'll put in a few hits of creamer and sugar to sweeten it for you, and if you don't like it, I can remake it for you."

"Uhh...ok," Dusk said, paid for his order, and waited at another section of the long counter to pick up his early breakfast.

He watched the worker pour him his coffee, putting in a couple spoonfuls of coffee creamer and sugar before mixing it in the hot, black beverage, making it brighter and smelling a lot sweeter. "There you go, hon. Have a taste." Dusk silently nodded and took his beverage, taking a small sip for a taste test. He smacked his lips, still tasting the strong hint of blended dirt beans, but the cream and sugar made it tolerable to drink. Seeing his reaction, the mare nodded in satisfaction, then gave him his bag holding his bagel, along with a couple small pats of cream cheese and some plastic cutlery. "Have a good morning, hon."

"Thank you," Dusk said, then anxiously took off his inhibitor band to levitate his coffee in his magic while grabbing the paper bag with his mouth.

He felt a bit self-conscious taking off that plastic band, but the mare didn't seem to judge him, nor did anyone else. Taking calm breaths, he levitated his bag out of his mouth, took out his breakfast, spread some of the cream cheese on both halves, and ate his food on the walk back to the castle. He might want to sample any of that cafe's other pastries, and he's already acquired a taste for coffee after enjoying a few more sips.

Dusk finished his bagel and coffee before making it back to the castle, tossing his garbage in a bin, now wide awake and motivated to start his day. While making sure his inhibitor was on right, as he rounded a corner in the hall, he and another pony didn't notice each other as they smacked into each other. Dusk grunted, bumping his head against a soldier after clonking into a metal helmet, rubbing his sore head with a grumble.

"Ah! S-Sorry about that!" the soldier apologized.

"So much for the start of a decent day," Dusk muttered to himself. When he opened his eyes, he got a better look at the stallion, only to notice how familiar he looked. Standing before him was Skye Slasher in a guard's uniform, and he looked a bit sheepish after running into someone. "...Uhh..."

"I should have been paying attention to where I was going," Skye said, apologizing once again. "You good?"

"Yeah. Just...startled," Dusk said.

"Ok, good. Well, carry on, citizen," Skye said with a salute, then began to walk off. He suddenly paused, then turned around to look at Dusk again. "Wait a minute. I don't think Princes Solaris has open court today. How'd you get through the front gate?"

"I...live here?" Dusk answered.

Skye gave the unicorn a suspicious leer, then began marching back up to him. "You live here?" he questioned. "What exactly do you do?"

"I'm...Princess Emerald's foalsitter," Dusk answered nervously, feeling intimidated by the recruit.

Skye's gaze softened and turned to confusion. "Princess Emerald's...foalsitter?" he repeated. Slowly, Skye unfurled one of his wings, then pulled out a piece of paper hidden underneath his armor. Looking at the note, Skye Slasher's eyes shifted between what was written and the unicorn stallion in front of him. "Uhh...You're...Dusk Shine?" Dusk slowly nodded. Skye grimaced, then let out an embarrassed giggle as he put his note back under his armor. "Oh. Oh, gosh. Heheh. I am so sorry...a-again. I-I thought you were..."

"An intruder?" Dusk questioned.

"Yeah. Uhh, first day doing a patrol around the castle," Skye said. "I lost track of my superior I was ghosting to learn the ropes eventually. Got lucky taking a day off from doing harsh training with my drill sergeant, but I'm gonna get an earful at some point."

"The you're not doing a very good job training to be a royal guard," Dusk said with a blank stare.

"Heh. I'm just...really excited to finally live my dream...and also very nervous, but in a good way," Skye reasoned. "Oh, I'm Skye Slasher, by the way."

"I know," Dusk said. "Emerald and I...saw you and your friend running late and got in trouble last week."

"Oh. Didn't know you were watching us," Skye mumbled, then chuckled at his first day of training. "Princess Emerald's adorable. She called us 'chubby bunnies' that day. Diggs didn't seem to like that, but he can take being called a slug or a maggot? Unreal."

"Diggs?" Dusk asked.

"Well, I call him Diggs, but his name's Gold Digger," Skye explained. "You just just call me Skye. Or Slash. Whatever works for you."

"Umm...ok, then," Dusk mumbled.

"Private Skye!" a voice called out from around the corner Skye came from. The recruit flinched, quickly turning around with a firm salute as another guard walked around to find him. The soldier let out an irritated huff, being the superior the pegasus teen mentioned as he approached the pegasus. "For goodness sakes, kid. I look away for one second and you wander off."

"Sir, sorry, sir!" Skye exclaimed, trying to apologize while being respectful to the more experienced guard.

The guard let out a sigh and shook his head in disdain. "I don't get paid enough to foalsit a new recruit," he mumbled. "Your sarge is gonna hear about you going AWOL and for giving yourself a personal tour around the castle."

Skye grimaced and lowered his head in shame. "Sorry, sir. It will not happen again, sir," he said morosely.

"Ugh. Enough with that already. I'm not your drill sergeant," the stallion said. "I'm not even that decent of a leader if I can't keep my eye on you. Now come on before I get outed by the captain for shirking my duties while searching for you."

Skye Slasher gave his superior another salute, who rolled his eyes, then turned around and began heading down the hall. "Guess we'll have to cut our chat short," he said to Dusk. "Nice meeting ya, Dusk. I'll probably be seeing you around."

"Umm...sure, I guess," Dusk said as Skye hurried after the guard to avoid losing him and getting into more trouble. The unicorn continued watching the two stallions until they rounded a corner further down the hall before slowly making his way to his room to continue practicing with his magic. "That was...weird..."

The next evening came time for the sleepover, Virtuo and Melody dropped off by their respective parents to enjoy a fun evening with Emerald. In Emerald's bedroom, the filly had a serious expression on her face, wearing a foam guard's helmet as she paced back and forth.

"Alright, troops, we got a big mission ahead of us!" she announced. "It will be risky, but I know we can pull this off! We are going to be pulling a big heist!" Grabbing a huge piece of paper with her magic aura, she held up a large, crude drawing of what looked like the map of the castle, more specifically the kitchen and the hallways adjacent to it. In a big circle in the kitchen drawing was a large jar, and inside it was a lot of poorly drawn cookies. "Operation: Cookie Dough!"

In front of Emerald was her "army": all her dolls and stuffed animals sat in three rows of four, Melody and Virtuo sat between the toys wearing similar foam helmets, and Dusk sat in a corner with a baffled look as he watched them playing some sort of pretend army game. He had no idea if the filly had been planning this all week along with her sleepover, but seeing how she's acting like that drill sergeant without being as harsh as he was with the recruits, it was probably a bad idea for them to find and watch them last week. And if they were actually planning to steal cookies from the castle's kitchen, they probably wouldn't make it through the door.

Through Emerald's eyes, she didn't see her guardian angel giggling at her adorable act. "All that we're missing is a book fort, and we've got ourselves an imaginary game of conquest."

"The enemy has the most delicious prize of all: a jar filled with sweet, gooey, triple chocolate chip cookies..." Emerald drooled a little as she imagined tasting the savory cookies filled with a changeling's favorite substitute for love.

"And we lost her," Virtuo said, which made Melody giggle. The colt stood up and approached the dazed filly, clapping his hooves in her face, snapping her out of her trance. "Fall asleep when we're eating those cookies, Em."

"R-Right! And we won't let anypony stop us!" Emerald cheered.

"Yeah!" Melody joined in. "Cookies!"

Dusk sighed and shook his head. "You could just ask for some cookies," he mumbled, then stood up and began to leave. "I'm getting myself a snack. Don't break anything while I'm gone."

"Ooh! Good idea!" Emerald said. "A spy on the inside!"

"...Sure, let's go with that," Dusk muttered, then left the fillies and colt to their "game". "Their imagination is far more vast than what I had when I grew up...Then again, all we had were some board games and...bland stories...Wow. Mom made it all sound more fun than I thought. My foalhood really did suck..."

He continued down the hall while looking back at all the "fun" activities he partook in as a colt and with the other foals who were born in his old home. As he reached the hall where the kitchen was, he heard a pair of guards talking to one another at the kitchen doors. When he got a closer look, Dusk recognized the two guards, one of which being Skye, and the other in matching armor was Gold Digger.

"This is the dumbest order we've been given," Gold Digger complained. "We're practicing our first guard shift in front of the kitchen door for the whole night. Does that old fart even know how tired we're gonna be if he has to force us to do drills?"

"This is part of our training, and I think this is a good start to practicing guard watch," Skye Slasher reasoned. "You probably wouldn't get tired if you didn't keep testing sarge with your smart aleck comments."

"Hey, I WANT to push myself unlike the rest of our lazy squad," Gold Digger argued. "I didn't actually think he'd force me to clean the entire bathroom with my own toothbrush. I'm not brushing my teeth for weeks thanks to that ass."

"You did deserve it," Skye sighed. His friend let out an annoyed grunt, slumping back against the wall in an unprofessional manner that a guard shouldn't be doing while on the job. He was about to scold his partner for his posture when he spotted Dusk Shine curiously walking toward them. "Hey, Dusk!" Gold Digger looked to where his friend staring at, quirking a brow at the unicorn teen approaching them. "Been a while."

"It's only been a day," Dusk mumbled.

"Hey, Diggs, this is the pony I told you about," Skye said to his friend. "The one I was about to throw out for trespassing when he actually lives here?"

The bored guard silently glanced at Skye, then back to Dusk. "...Maybe he should be tossed out," Gold Digger said.

Dusk took offense to Gold Digger's remark, but while Skye chuckled, he had no idea if the other pegasus was actually joking or being serious. "He's just kidding," Skye said to Dusk. "This is Gold Digger. We've been friends since we were colts."

"Uhh...Nice meeting you," Dusk said to Gold Digger, holding out his hoof for a friendly shake. The bored recruit just silently stared at him, making the greeting awkward. "...Ok..." Dusk put his hoof down, shifting about nervously before he looked back at Skye. "So, what are you two doing?"

"Guarding a useless door," Gold Digger answered with bitter annoyance. "What else do guards do?"

Taken aback by the moody stallion's response, he felt like he was being treated like an idiot. "It's not useless," Skye corrected, giving his friend a dirty look before looking back at Dusk with a calmer expression. "Our sarge was informed by some of the guards in the castle that somepony was planning a big heist the whole week. He requested volunteers to be on guard duty for the night, and I got us to take the job."

"And...you're guarding the door leading to...the kitchen?" Dusk questioned skeptically.

"Yup!" Skye said with much enthusiasm, though Gold Digger rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, what a great idea," the deadpanned pegasus said, then put on a look of fake excitement while being sarcastic. "We're gonna catch ourselves a food thief! Maybe we'll bag a mouse, or chase out a colony of ants! Ooh, wait! It might actually be a squirrel looking for some nuts in the pantry!" Dropping his act, Gold Digger facehooved with an exasperated groan. "Skye, you're an idiot for dragging me into this, because if it is a squirrel, WE'RE the nuts for guarding a stupid kitchen."

"I don't think sarge said it was a squirrel," Skye mumbled, making his friend mash his hoof into his helmed forehead again.

Dusk was confused, only to put the pieces together as he stared blankly at the door. Emerald was planning to steal some cookies in the kitchen, and Skye and Gold Digger just so happen to be guarding the kitchen because other guards heard about a food thief planning a big heist.

"Oh, you can't be serious," Dusk muttered to himself.

"So, what brings you around here?" Skye asked Dusk.

"I was going to get myself a snack to get away from Emerald and her friends' shenanigans for a while," the unicorn said.

"The princess?" Gold Digger questioned.

Skye gave Dusk a suspicious glare, although where Dusk was once intimidated by it the other day, this time, he was going to get annoyed if the pegasus thought that he was supposed to be the culprit. "That sounds awfully suspicious and coincidental," Skye said. Dusk leered at Skye, not amused by the claim. "You want a snack...and I just so happened to hold a conversation with you yesterday so you could try to get a suitable alibi for your crime!"

"...I'm not the food bandit you were warned of," Dusk said in a deadpanned tone. "It's Princess Emerald and her friends at her sleepover."

"That's just what a thief would say!" Skye accused, pointing his hoof at the unicorn with a flair of silliness.

"Ok, how do you know the princess?" Gold Digger asked.

Dropping his silly accusatory actions toward Dusk, Skye looked back at Gold Digger. "He's Princess Emerald's foalsitter, and he sorta lives in the castle with the royal family."

Gold Digger's eyes widened in surprise, then quickly turned to disgust when he looked at Dusk. "The prince and princess...hired a stallion to watch their foal?" he questioned, then let out a scoff. "Mares are supposed to do the foalsitting, not stallions. Fag."

Dusk's ears twitched, unable to hear the last thing Gold Digger muttered under his breath. "Uhh, what?"

Gold Digger stood up from the wall he leaned against and began walking off. "This is getting ridiculous. I'm finding a supply closet and sleeping through this dumb assignment. I haven't gotten a good night's rest no thanks to that old codger yelling in my ear and making me clean the whole castle with a tiny brush."

"W-What!?" Skye exclaimed. "You can't just leave you're post! You'll get in even more trouble!"

"There's no kitchen thief," Gold Digger reassured. "It's just some stupid 'order' he gave us just to get his rocks off tormenting us recruits into being his little army colts. Come morning, we'll pass without any hassle."

Skye wanted to chase after him, but he remained vigilant with his orders from his drill sergeant to avoid taking any similar punishments his friend's been given. He let out an annoyed sigh and shook his head.

"Diggs, I swear, you're doing this on purpose sometimes," Skye mumbled to himself. He looked back at Dusk, almost forgetting he was still standing there while being just as dumbstruck. "...Uhh, sorry about Diggs. He's not really like this. I'm probably gonna get in just as much trouble as he is."

"If he's supposed to be your friend, then he's not a really good one," Dusk said. "And I thought I heard him call me something. What did he say?"

Skye frowned, feeling embarrassed as he seemed to know exactly what his so-called friend called him. "He...called you a fag," the pegasus said with a wince.

"...A what?" Dusk asked, never once hearing that word before in his life.

Skye Slasher gave the unicorn a confused look. "...Wait, you seriously never heard that word before?" he asked. Dusk shook his head silently. "...Do you even want to know what it means?"

"Is it some sort of insult?" Dusk asked.

"...Yeah. A really bad one," Skye said, hesitating slightly as he seemed troubled and anxious to describe it to the unicorn. "...It's...a derogatory word for calling somepony gay." Dusk tilted his head, making Skye grimace more as he had to educate the unicorn stallion with another word he's apparently never heard of. "...Ponies who are attracted to the same gender?"

"...Oh. I...I see," Dusk mumbled.

"How have you never heard of any of those words?" Skye questioned. "Are you even from Canterlot?"

"Umm...Not exactly," Dusk said. "I...I used to live...in a village at the end of Equestria..."

"Ok...When exactly did start working as the princess's foalsitter?" Skye asked curiously.

"A couple weeks ago," Dusk said.

"And...how long ago did you move here?" the pegasus asked.

"...A couple weeks ago?" Dusk repeated nervously.

To say Skye was shocked was an understatement. "Seriously? You moved here, AND got appointed to be Prince Solaris's full-time foalsitter for his daughter at the same time???" he questioned. "When did you meet His Highness and his family and get immediate approval and trust to watch Princess Emerald?"

Dusk lowered his head, frowning miserably. "...I-It's...I don't...want to talk about it..."

Skye noticed the look of sadness and confusion on the unicorn's face, knowing better than to press for more information if it was too personal to talk about. "...I'm sorry. It was just a strange coincidence. I didn't mean to upset you with bad memories," Skye apologized. Dusk sadly glanced up at the pegasus. He was at least grateful this stallion was respectful of his past. He was afraid of letting anyone else know that he was the son of the unicorn who attempted to kidnap and hold the royal family hostage, and he didn't want to bring up his mother and the emotional turmoil he's still suffering from. "But, hey, living here in the castle must have its perks, right? You sleep in an awesome, luxurious room, get waited on by cute maids, and maybe attend some of the fanciest events in all of Canterlot."

"...I guess," Dusk mumbled, though he wasn't entirely sure if he enjoyed being an honorary guest in the castle.

"You guess!? You're like...I don't know, a duke or something!" Skye exclaimed, flabbergasted by Dusk Shine's answer. The unicorn was about to retort, but as soon as he looked up, his voice caught in his throat when he saw Princess Emerald and her entourage sneaking down the hall toward them. And with Skye's back toward them, they had an opening to sneak into the kitchen. The hybrid filly gestured for Dusk to keep stalling the pegasus guard as they inched closer, making him roll his eyes in annoyance, though he was lucky Skye didn't notice while still reeling from his unenthusiastic response. "I mean, I don't know a lot about social standings since I kinda grew up in the suburbs, but you've gotta have some authority if you watch the little princess."

"Err...I, uhh..." Dusk tried not to look at the sneaking trio, unable to believe he's actually going to be their distraction to steal some cookies.

"Although, it's not really that much of a great idea asserting any authority, otherwise you'd sound like an entitled jerk," Skye continued rambling. He didn't hear the kitchen door slowly open up behind him as the two fillies and colt snuck inside. "Most of the nobles who live in Canterlot are kinda stuck up and haughty. They think they're better than everypony else when I bet they haven't lifted a hoof to do anything helpful since they were foals. Diggs comes from a rich family, but he's not like most of those stuffy nobles."

"I...I couldn't tell," Dusk said nervously.

"He can be a bit rude, but he's an awesome friend. Maybe if we get ourselves a break, we can hang out and you can see the real Diggs." Dusk was a bit surprised, being offered to hang out with some ponies, even after just recently meeting with them.

"Really?" Dusk asked curiously.

"Yeah. I think we can hit it off as friends...even though I tried to kick you out of the castle." Skye Slasher chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "And I accused you of being the food thief...Unless, you actually-"

"No, I'm not," Dusk quickly said.

"Ok. Cool. No hard feelings, huh?" Skye held out his hoof to Dusk. The unicorn reluctantly lifted his own and shook Skye's, though the pegasus seemed a bit confused. "Uhh, I was kind of going for a hoof bump, but that's fine. We'll help you fit in." Despite how awkward he was, Dusk was surprised he had managed to find a friend in this pegasus. He thought that Emerald might have been right; things might get a little better, and he's already made his first friend outside of his old home. The small grin he wore quickly faded when they heard metal clattering coming from the kitchen. "What was that? Oh, horseapples! The kitchen bandits!"

Skye quickly opened the door to the kitchen while Dusk grimaced, knowing the foals were going to be caught. However, to both their surprise, they only saw a metal pan laying on the floor, which must have fell judging by sound they heard. Skye stepped inside and began to investigate, looking around each corner of the prep counters, cabinets, even under the sinks for dishwashing or rinsing products. Dusk looked around as well, having no idea where the three foals disappeared to. Skye checked the pantry last, peering around the corners and moving around some the bags, but found no thieves, creature or pony.

Dusk looked around, finding Emerald's objective resting on a counter along with some other cooking utensils and seasonings. The clear plastic cookie jar had the special cookies the princess and her two friends were after: over five dozen chocolate chip cookies stuffed inside, the chips chunky and coating a majority of each circular, doughy disk, and these cookies were as big as his own hoof. Whoever baked these must have really been hankering for some chocolate, and if they wanted milk, they needed a bowl to fit one of them in to dunk them, not a glass.

"...Wow...No wonder she wanted to nab these," Dusk uttered to himself, wanting to try one of these cookies for himself. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see Skye still searching through the walk-in pantry. "Maybe Emerald won't mind if I take one. I am helping her, after all..." Quietly, he reached his hoof over to the jar, but before he could open the lid, a big box of salt had a pair of eyes suddenly open up to look at him. He looked at the box, confused by the big, emerald green eyes staring at him, then blinked a couple times. "AHHH!"

Dusk staggered backward, bumping into a cooking line table before hitting the ground. Skye ran out of the pantry after hearing Dusk scream.

"What!? What happened!?" he asked. "You found the thieves!?"

Skye helped Dusk back onto his hooves as the unicorn looked back at the counter. The eyes on the box of salt were gone, or they were clenched shut, but those eyes looked exactly like a certain little filly he knows is still in here. He quickly shook his head, thinking he saw something, but he had no idea anymore.

"...N-No. I thought...I thought I saw a mouse," Dusk lied.

"Huh. False alarm," Skye said. "Might need to let the kitchen staff know to catch the little bugger." He looked around for any sign of the small, furry intruder before giving up, possibly losing sight of it as it ran away through a small hole in the kitchen. He then placed the fallen pan from the floor into one of the sinks for the kitchen crew to clean later. "Must have also knocked over that pan, too. Any little thief would do anything for some cheddar."

The guard recruit laughed at his little joke before heading back out in the hall. Dusk followed, looking back at the salt for a brief moment before following Sky out of the kitchen. Once the door was closed, the eyes reappeared on the box, and in a flash of green, it transformed into the little pony/changeling princess. Emerald let out a sigh, then looked down at her hooves in awe.

"How did I do that?" she asked herself. She would have to ask her mommy about this if she accidentally used her magic to transform for the first time. Right now, she wanted those cookies, and they were right there, waiting to get eaten. Elsewhere in the kitchen in their own hiding spots, Melody peeked out from under a big pot on a lower shelf with other bigger pans and pots, while Virtuo poked his head out of a sack of potatoes. As the filly and colt quietly climbed out of their hiding spots, Emerald grasped the jar in her forehooves, fluttering her wings to hover it over to the edge of the counter. "Get ready to catch it. We don't wanna lose a single crumb off these cookies."

Both Melody and Virtuo stood by the counter, raising their hooves to catch the jar. With her grip tightly wrapped around the jar, Emerald moved the jar off the edge, quickly flapping her wings with a strained grunt to keep the jar from dropping and hurting her friends. The earth ponies grabbed the bottom of the jar, then the fillies carefully set it on Virtuo's back since he was a bit stronger. With their prize, the trio made their way to the door, slowly opening it up a crack to make sure Skye wasn't going to spot them.

"...and cheddar is slang for bits, and thieves go for money, so it's a joke comparing a thief to a mouse," Skye said, finishing explaining what he said to Dusk after losing the "mouse" that got away. Dusk seemed to get the comparison, but still didn't understand the joke. He took a brief glance at the thieving trio, Emerald giving him a small wave to signal their mission was a success as they slowly walked back up to her room. Skye let out a sigh, getting the unicorn's attention. "I guess we're also going to have to teach you how to make funny one-liners and laugh at them."

"Yeah. Good luck with that," Dusk said. "And I'd stick with being a guard than a comedian. You're not that funny."

"At least I know how to make jokes, unlike you," Skye said with a smirk, then gave Dusk a light punch in the shoulder. It was a strange sort of gesture for Dusk, but as long as it wasn't painful, he won't mind the light roughhousing. "I probably don't want to keep you long. If I'm afraid of getting reamed by sarge, you'll probably be in a lot of trouble with Prince Solaris if you leave his daughter unattended."

"Right. Emerald's a much bigger hoofful than other foals I watched back home," Dusk said.

"So you're good with foals," Skye pondered. While Dusk subtly glanced down the hall, watching Emerald, Virtuo, and Melody disappearing around the corner, Skye noticed the stallion's flank lacking a cutie mark. "How come you don't have a cutie mark in foalsitting? Or...a cutie mark at all?"

Dusk winced, biting his lip nervously as his tail quickly flicked to his right flank, covering his markless side from the pegasus. "...I-I...W-Well..." His eyes shifted down to the floor, occasionally looking at Skye for a brief second before averting his gaze. Skye looked a bit concerned, fearing he was about to force Dusk to let out even more skeletons from his closet. Dusk slowly glanced back up to him, feeling like he can trust the recruit with at least a little bit about himself. Taking in a deep breath, he sighed, still keeping his tail tucked around his flank as he looked back at Skye. "...I was...a sheltered colt growing up. The village I grew up in was...really, really far from any other civilization. And my mom...didn't teach me everything that's common in other parts of Equestria. She even kept me from doing anything else besides what she approved was fun, which is why I...don't have a cutie mark...or any special talents..."

Skye Slasher was stunned, and felt pity for Dusk. "...Wow...I think sheltered sounds like a bit of an understatement for you," he said. "How'd your folks even approve if your mom was that strict to keep you stuck in your old home?" Dusk gulped nervously, trying to come up with another lie. "Unless...you ran away from home, and Prince Solaris must have found you and took you in when you got lost."

It was a close enough guess, but Dusk wished he ran away when he finally realized how much his mother's philosophy was all a lie and how horrible of a pony she was if she kept her magic while other unicorns lost theirs to join in her ideals of equality. "...Kind of," he said. "But Prince Solaris...saw some magic potential in me. I'm learning about magic, but because of my mom, I finally let out...how much I hated her for what she kept from me all my life." Looking up at his horn, Dusk raised a hoof up and slowly took off the inhibitor from the base of his horn, showing it to Skye. "I have so much pent up anxiety and anger in me after that, I finally released some very powerful magic that's been bottled up inside...I have to wear this inhibitor when I'm not practicing, or if I ever get emotionally unstable..."

"Then you blow a hole in the wall," Skye said, finishing Dusk's statement. A hole in a wall was the least of Dusk's worries, though; he was afraid he'd be like his mom and harm somepony with his unstable magic surges. Skye stepped closer to the depressed unicorn, gently placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. I'm not gonna judge you. What you've been through must have been pretty harsh."

"You have no idea," Dusk said, putting the inhibitor back on his horn. "This thing...isn't ridiculous, is it?"

"I actually thought it was a weird accessory for unicorns at first, like a weird fad," Skye said. "I've actually seen the metal ones used for unicorn criminals. Those ones look much more uncomfortable, and I don't have a horn...Well, at least not on my head." Skye snickered at his joke, and this time, Dusk got the meaning right away with a disturbed grimace. His reaction only made the pegasus laugh harder and earned himself a hard punch in the shoulder from Dusk. "Ow! Hey, at least I helped snap you out of your funk."

"You're disgusting," Dusk grumbled. "...At least you're not as bad as Princess Trill. She talks about sex and the like so casually, I don't even know how she doesn't get embarrassed with the things she says."

"Oh, jeeze, she's definitely worse than me, then," Skye said with another laugh.

Dusk let out a small laugh himself, shaking his head, surprising himself by enjoying his new friend's crude sense of humor. "I should get back to make sure the foals aren't making a mess. I'll leave you to your...guard duty."

"Yeah. Can't shirk off when Diggs bailed on me," Skye said with a disgruntled sigh. "I'll be seeing you around the castle. And I'll let you know when we get some time off from training...though I doubt we'll get a chance when there's still a few more months of basic we gotta go through."

"Well, good luck with all that," Dusk said before taking his leave.

"Have a good night," Skye said with a small wave, then went back to standing vigilantly at the kitchen door.

On the walk back to Emerald's room, Dusk was feeling a little happier than he's ever been since a couple weeks ago. He never thought he'd make a friend, but here he was, already befriending another stallion his age, and he understood his troubles and didn't make fun of him for a lack of a cutie mark and wearing a magic inhibitor ring. If Skye finished basic training, maybe he'll enjoy hanging out with him, and maybe Gold Digger if he wasn't as irritated as he was tonight. He was going to have to get used to any immature, perverted quips Skye comes up with, so long as none of it's offensive.

Upon walking into the princess's room, Dusk could already see the two fillies and colt already chowing down on the cookies, devouring almost a fourth of the jar. "Mmmmmmm...chocolate chip cookieeeeeeeeeee," Emerald moaned, her muzzle covered with crumbs as she bit into another cookie.

"She loves chocolate too much," Virtuo said while Melody giggled at her friend's trance.

"If you were part changeling, you'd know how yummy chocolate can really be," Emerald said, sticking her tongue out at the colt playfully. Just as she was about to take another big bite, she spotted Dusk watching them eating their treasure. "Hi, Dusky! Mission accomplished! You did us proud, soldier!"

"You're lucky I didn't rat you guys out," Dusk said. He approached the trio, plopping down with them as he took a few cookies for himself. "I didn't get my snack that I wanted, so I'm still hungry, and I deserve a share of these cookies."

"Fine. Fair's fair," Emerald said, then munched down on her next cookie with delighted hums.

Dusk took a bite for himself, and he could see why the foals enjoyed them. The chocolate chips practically melted in his mouth as he chewed, almost like he was eating a giant piece of chocolate were it not for the dough the chunks jutted out from. He was sure Skye would get in trouble if they found out the cookies were stolen, but Emerald would eventually own up to taking the cookie jar.

After going through half the cookies, Dusk had a strange thought as he looked at Emerald. "Hey, Emerald, were you...hiding in the kitchen when Skye and I went in to investigate that noise?"

"Mhmm," Emerald mumbled, her cheeks puffed with her mouthful of cookie before swallowing and wiping the crumbs off her muzzle with her hoof. "I think you spotted me, but you didn't say anything. Was I invisible?"

"You were a box of salt." Melody grunted, accidentally swallowing a chunk of her cookie in shock and began choking.

Dusk quickly went over to pat the filly's back until she managed to swallow her piece down the correct pipe. "Y-You...turned into what!?" Melody asked with a cough.

"Changelings can turn into other ponies," Virtuo said. "But I didn't know you could do that, Emerald."

"And I didn't know I could turn into anything at all," Emerald added. "I got scared and just stood still, then I felt my horn go off and didn't move until it was all clear."

"So it happened on instinct," Dusk wondered aloud. "Startled the hay out of me when you blinked at me."

"Can you do it again?" Virtuo asked curiously.

"I don't know. Lemme try again." Emerald stood up, took in a deep breath, then puffed out her cheeks as she tried to light up her horn. Her horn started to glow and she tried to focus on transforming into something. After a minute, her face turned red, but nothing happened as she exhaled and panted, her aura fizzling out around her horn. Disappointed, she blew a raspberry and scowled. "Nope. Can't do it."

"Maybe your mom can teach you how to do it," Dusk said. "But, if you play hide and seek, don't use it to cheat, or none of us would be able to find you."

"I would never do that!" Emerald exclaimed, though her shifty eyes told her friends and the teen otherwise.

"Liar," Virtuo uttered, getting a pouty leer from the princess.

Soon after, the bedroom door opened as Solaris walked in. "Hello, everypony. How's the-?" The alicorn paused when he noticed the fake soldier helmets on the foals' heads and the jar of cookies the four ponies were eating. "...What's going on in here?"

"Umm...Nothing, daddy?" Emerald said, bearing an innocent smile to Solaris.

"Doesn't look like nothing to me," he said as he stepped inside. As he got closer, he levitated the jar with the few remaining cookies left inside. "Where did you get these cookies?"

"...Nowhere?" Melody answered sheepishly.

Solaris hummed curiously, taking out one of the triple chocolate chip cookies and examined it. He took a little sniff, then a small bite, humming even more from the chocolate chip chunks baked inside the pastry.

"Hmmmmm...Triple chocolate chip chunks," the alicorn said, then took another bite. "You know, these cookies look just like the ones one of my guards had made a couple days ago. Even taste the same. He told me to keep your mother away from them, knowing just how much she loves chocolate as much as my love." The foal trio glanced at each other nervously as Solaris held up the plastic cookie jar. "And they're in the very same container he put them in. How peculiar."

"I-Is it?" Emerald asked sheepishly with an innocent giggle.

Solaris then looked at Dusk, who then began to sweat nervously knowing he was in a bit of trouble, too, along with Skye Slasher and Gold Digger when they figure out whose cookies were stolen. "Did you, by any chance, happen to take these cookies without permission?" Solaris asked with a knowing smirk.

"...Uhhh...Not exactly?" Dusk answered. "E-Emerald had apparently been planning this weird heist, and I unfortunately wound up being the distraction for the guards stationed there."

"I see..." Solaris gave the group a sly smirk, finishing the last of his cookie. He then levitated the last of the cookies, placing an even amount in front of the foals and teen, all of them looking up at him in confusion. "Eat those up before Trill sniffs them out. If it wasn't Emmy, then she would have tried to sneak in and take them all for herself instead." Taking the jar with him, Solaris began to walk out of his daughter's bedroom. "Enjoy the rest of your sleepover, guys!" he said, but before he left, he turned back to Dusk. "Oh, Dusk, who was watching the kitchen?"

"...Two pegasi: Skye Slasher and Gold Digger," Dusk said. "But...Gold Digger left his post."

"Hmm...I see," the alicorn mumbled. "He's not gonna be happy with this. Oh well. Have fun, kids!"

Solaris left the room, leaving the foals stunned silent as they looked down at their remaining cookies. "...So...we're not in trouble?" Virtuo asked.

"If we're not, then let's finish up these cookies!" Emerald cheered, then scarfed down the last of her cookies.

Virtuo and Melody shrugged and followed Emerald's lead, devouring their last share of cookies. Dusk breathed a sigh of relief, though he hoped Skye would be spared. Gold Digger definitely deserved whatever their drill sergeant will give him for abandoning his assigned post. He finished up his cookies, savoring them while looking forward to running into his new friend for some small talk and eventually get to properly hang out with him when he's not too busy training or on duty.